Extraction of Operating System-Specific Characteristics via a Communication Interface

1. A device comprising: a communication interface; a memory configured to store a plurality of descriptors accessible by a host computing system communicatively connected to the communication interface, the plurality of descriptors including: an extended capability descriptor including a header and at least one element, wherein the extended capability descriptor provides an identification of a minimum operating system version able to support an extended descriptor set, and wherein the extended capability descriptor includes at least one element indicating the existence of an alternative enumeration of the device to a host computing system; and one or more extended descriptors included in the extended descriptor set, the one or more extended descriptors recognizable to a host computing system executing at least the minimum operating system version and useable to enumerate the device thereon; wherein the device is configured to, in response to a request received via the communication interface from a host device, provide the extended capability descriptor to the host device.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the extended capability descriptor is included in a plurality of Binary Device Object Store descriptors.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is configured to: receive a control request via a USB interface to obtain an extended descriptor set including the one or more extended descriptors, the control request based on the extended capability descriptor and an operating system version of the host computing system; and provide, in response to the control request, an extended descriptor set including the one or more extended descriptors defining functionality of the device to be enumerated at the host computing system.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the extended descriptor set defines a set of extended descriptors supported by a host computing system having a minimum operating system version.

5. The device of claim 3 , wherein the one or more extended descriptors in the extended descriptor set include a descriptor applicable to an entire device.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the one or more extended descriptors in the extended descriptor set further include a descriptor applicable to a device configuration.

7. The device of claim 5 , wherein the zero or more extended descriptors in the extended descriptor set further include a descriptor applicable to a function provided by the device.

8. The device of claim 3 , wherein the one or more descriptors have a plurality of different descriptor types, the descriptor types selected from a group of descriptor types consisting of: a feature registry property type; a feature CCGP device type; a feature compatible ID type; a recovery time type; a preferred configuration type; and a model identifier type.

9. The system of claim 3 , wherein the device comprises a multifunction peripheral device having a plurality of functions, and wherein the extended capability descriptor set includes one or more descriptors defining features of the entire device and applicable to each of the plurality of functions.

10. A method comprising: transmitting a request to a device from a host computing system; receiving an extended capability descriptor identifying to the host computing system at least one extended descriptor set stored on the device, wherein the extended capability descriptor identifies a minimum operating system version able to support a corresponding extended descriptor set; determining whether the extended capability descriptor indicates that the device supports an alternative enumeration; and transmitting a control request for an alternative descriptor set corresponding to the alternative enumeration.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: determining whether the extended capability descriptor indicates that the device supports non-standard capabilities supported by an operating system version of the host computing system; and transmitting a control request to the device via a USB interface to obtain an extended descriptor set supported by the device, the control request including a vendor code based on the extended capability descriptor and an operating system version of the host computing system.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the extended capability descriptor includes a plurality of elements, each element including an identification of a minimum operating system version able to support a corresponding extended descriptor set, a length of the corresponding extended descriptor set, and a vendor code of the device.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving, in response to a control request, an extended descriptor set including a set of non-standard descriptors defining capabilities of the device available to the host computing system based on the operating system version.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the extended descriptor set includes at least one descriptor having a device-wide scope.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the extended descriptor set includes a second at least one descriptor at a device configuration level.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the extended descriptor set includes a descriptor having a host architecture descriptor type, the host architecture type defining a capability available to the host computing device dependent upon a computing architecture of the host computing device.

17. A computer storage device including computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising: transmitting a request to a device for one or more descriptors stored at the device, the one or more descriptors including an extended capability descriptor, the request transmitted from a host computing system via an interface communicatively connecting the device to the host computing system; receiving the extended capability descriptor at the host computing system, wherein the extended capability descriptor includes one or more elements each identifying a different extended capability descriptor set, at least one of the elements identifying a minimum operating system version able to support a corresponding extended descriptor set; transmitting a second request to the device from the host computing system, the second request corresponding to a request for an extended descriptor set identified based on contents of the extended capability descriptor and an operating system of the host computing system; and in response to the second request, receiving a set of extended descriptors useable to enumerate the device with the host computing system and defining functionality supported by the operating system of the host computing system.